Summary: "'We need to stop her.' C-20 insisted." Following his departure from the TVA, Mobius reunites with a couple of friendly faces. One-shot. Set after episode four of Loki.

A/N: DO NOT read if you have not yet seen episode four of Loki!

Something Other Than Death

Mobius's mind was a bit foggy when he awoke. Something dug into his back. He guessed it to be rocks or debris. The air smelled faintly of smoke. He expected to have a pounding headache, but he felt completely fine.

Other than utterly confused at how he was alive. He'd been pruned- by Ravonna. He was supposed to have been erased from existence. He was supposed to be dead.

But he wasn't. That was unexpected.

He opened his eyes and sat up, taking in the sight of a ruined New York City. The city, it wasn't just ruined; it looked to be abandoned. Considering the city's population, that was an odd thing. This wasn't any timeline he'd visited before. This place must've been where all the pruned variants ended up being dumped. He'd never considered that being erased didn't lead to death. This, however, clearly changed things.

Though he probably should have started exploring this new timeline, he found himself unable to move. Things had been quite hectic as of lately, and he was finally getting a breather. Not for the right reasons, of course, but...a break was a break.

Mobius gazed out across the rugged, beaten city, though his eyes were distant. A soft, sad smile tugged gently at his lips as he recalled the events that had led him up to this moment. It'd started with Loki's arrival and bold claims of the TVA being ridiculous. Then there was Hunter C-20's capture. Then Loki had disobeyed him and followed his female counterpart through a Timedoor. Then he got them back, both of them, though Loki had insisted that all he knew was a lie. Then he'd gotten suspicious and asked a few questions too many as he discovered the truth. And then…

"You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere? Wherever it is I'm really from. Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along." He was glad that he'd at least had the chance to learn the truth before his inevitable eventual death. "Maybe I had a jet ski. That's what I'd like to do. Just riding around on my jet ski."

"Prune him."

"No!"

He heard Loki shout his protest as a wave of horrible pain coursed through his body.

Loki.

What had become of the god? Had he been pruned too?

Mobius didn't want to worry about that. He couldn't worry about that. Loki would be fine, and was currently the least of his concerns. For now...he was trapped in an unknown time. He had to figure out what he was going to do about that.

*X*

The streets of the city were rather empty. Empty of people, anyway. Rubble was strewn all throughout the city, though he wasn't sure if it was from an apocalypse or from some of the other variants he'd spotted lurking around the place. He didn't recognize most of them, and didn't make to approach any.

One he did recognize outright attacked him, but the one useful thing that hadn't been taken from Mobius was his TVA baton. He managed to knock out his attacker, refusing to prune him for uncertainty of what would happen. They'd all been pruned once- what would happen if it was done to someone a second time?

The first day dragged out into night and he sought out a place to shelter and rest. He scavenged around for supplies, quickly finding that food and water were scarce. He was able to scrounge up a drink before he quit the search. He didn't sleep well, a combination of recent memories and the environment around him keeping him awake. But he didn't complain. It was still resting, so long as he wasn't on the move. Not that he could see anything out in the abandoned city anyway.

His lack of sleep did have an impact on his movements, however, and he found himself to be a bit more sluggish on the second day. The irritation that came with it faded the moment a familiar voice called his name.

"Mobius? Is- is that you?" The voice sounded hopefully nervous.

With a frown, he peered over his shoulder and scanned the area for the source of the voice. His eyes locked onto the armored form of Hunter C-20 huddled just inside a building. "I was hoping I'd find you while I was here."

Her body shook against a dry sob. "Why are you here?"

"Same as you." He offered a sad smile as he ducked inside a broken window and sat down beside her. "I found out too much."

"Then you know...?"

"Yeah. I know." He assured her, his voice soft.

"We need to stop her." C-20 insisted.

"That's not our highest priority right now. We need to get out of here first."

"How?" She asked. "We have nothing here."

Mobius got back to his feet and held a hand down to her. "We'll figure it out. Come on, we have work to do."

*X*

It was three days later, at the edge of the city, when they discovered another familiar face. Caught up in a fight with five other variants and drastically outnumbered was Loki Laufeyson.

Mobius and C-20 had been up on the fourth floor of an old parking garage when she'd noticed him. He'd been sitting against the concrete wall of the structure, trying to rest a little, when she'd alerted him to the fight.

"Is that who I think it is?" She wondered aloud.

"Who?" He scrambled up to his feet, looking in the direction she was faced. A smile crossed his face and he shook his head in fond amusement. "Loki."

They'd quickly made their way down to the streets and made their way over to the fight, joining in just in time.

As Mobius took on one of the variants, Loki and C-20 each fought two. The hunter had been lucky enough to find a baseball bat laying around somewhere and it appeared to be holding up well as her only weapon. Mobius used the baton he'd never lost. Loki, of course, had summoned daggers with his magic. The god appeared to notice their presence, yet had not shown recognition of who his allies were.

It wasn't long after Mobius and C-20 arrived to the scene that they drove off the offending variants.

"Wow, do I need to do this more often." The agent let out a breath of relief as he clipped his baton back to his belt.

"Wait...Mobius?" Loki sounded almost confused as their gazes met.

"Yeah?"

"Is it really you?"

"I hope so." Mobius settled on an attempt to humor his friend. "I don't recall being someone else."

The god's eyebrows rose incredulously. His voice was quiet when he spoke again. "You're alive."

"Seeing as you're also here, you shouldn't be too surprised." The agent pointed out.

"I thought...I thought you were dead." Loki admitted.

He offered a small smile. "So did I."

"Turns out pruning works differently than we thought." C-20 added, drawing the attention of both of the men.

"Loki, this is-"

"-Hunter C-20." The god already knew.

"Yeah." Mobius finished with an exasperated huff.

"Friends against time, allies to the end. You've seen all of existence, same as me. So you know, friendship like ours is uncommon. And worth fighting for."

It was good to have Loki back.